CAPITALISM For Those Who Hate It….
Capitalism, like fire, is a useful tool. When it is used by careless, single-minded, greed motivated, unconscionable individuals, it is a very dangerous thing. It runs amok.
Capitalism, an economic system, ALWAYS seeks to control the society, i.e. the social system. It does this for its own advantage. This is built into the very heart of capitalism.
It is the duty of the social system to 'own' the society's economic system. Our society has failed to control, regulate, and use our economic system properly. If we failed to control fire in the same careless way, we'd none of us have homes!
Until we stop buying into the concept, propagated by greed-capitalists, that capitalism and democracy are irrevocably interconnected, we are going to have great difficulty establishing proper control of this useful, but dangerous, tool.
We can easily see that when the economic system comes to dominate the social system it forces the "greed philosophy" onto the social system to the detriment of its members - us.
It is the job of the social system to set the aims of the society for the good of ALL the members of the society. It ought not to allow any of the sub-systems, such as the economic one, to do harm to any of the members of the society.
To this end it is necessary for the economic system to be put back in its cage and kept under strict control. Anything else is a disaster for the society and its citizens.
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Sally Swift
patricia kenet
Global Rev
SeventhSister
Ralph Tingey
TimingLogic
Salon.com
Comments
r./
scanner, you bet'cha!
DD, perhaps too succinct.....?
oit, Thanks!
vzn,
Don't know nothin' about any "speed limit". What's that all about?
vzn,
We don't really have an entirely "free" market..... thankfully! But our social system doesn't have proper control of our economic system either. We cannot even begin to build a place we'll be proud to leave to future generations until we get our economic system serving the purpose that particular tool ought to serve - the attainment of social goals.
A society MUST seriously and strongly regulate any economic system, no matter how "good" (or bad) that system might be. If left to its own devices, a capitalist system will be used by those who DO control it, to their own benefit. It is our responsibility to make damn sure that any system used by our society to further its goals, is firmly in our hands, and not the hands of a few.
I am not a socialist. I do not think that giving over control of the economic system to "the workers" or any other group is ultimately workable. The economic system, as well as other systems, such as education, health, ecological concerns, highways, etc., etc., must be in the hands of the entire society. And electing a few people to look after things won't do the trick - as we certainly have good reason to know!
If ya want somethin' done right - ya hav'ta do it yerselves.
Give that responsibility to others, along with the authority to get the job done, and they'll ALWAYS use that authority to their own personal advantage. ALWAYS!!
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Yes, it is possible. A whole society can bring a lot of weight to bear when necessary!
Cathy,
As is everything, my dear. As is everything.....
Lately I've been considering the idea of having two economic systems. To some extent, we already do have two systems as we have learned to use barter. In some places the barter system is being used with co-ops and one can barter work for food and other necessities. Heck, some co-ops are even issuing their own script!
If something like that were to be extended to the whole society then we'd always have an alternate economic system to fall back on when the bankers screw up in the games they play. This "extra" monetary system would leave us able to carry on instead of being the goat when the "big system" falls on its face. Just a thought so far. I'll work on it.
;-)
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Thaddeus Russell devotes a chapter to Roosevelt and some of the men in his administration in The Renegade History of the United States. It's clear from some of the stuff these people wrote they didn't really believe in democracy (the Clintons, Obama and Zbigniew Brzezinski don't really believe in democracy either - it's too inefficient - with oil running out, the only solution is for the self-selected elite to take a firm hand).
People like this believe in meritocracy - not democracy. They believe some people are born stronger and cleverer than others. They think they have an inherent right to more comfortable lifestyles and material possessions - and to the power to tell the rest of us how to live.
I'm afraid to say it but so long as people placidly allow this to happen to them, they deserve what they get.
Freedom/democracy is NOT something that the 'elite' will ever grant to others. It must be taken and taken and taken. It must be taken every day and every moment of every day. There are always those who want to be king. Those who want to give orders to all others. If we let them, they'd be gods.
This is something that I've thought long and hard about. In our present society it is nearly impossible to induce people to take part in management of the nation unless they have that internal kink that drives them to seek power over others. In my Citizens' Capitalism blogs I've outlined how we might overcome this lethargic attitude by requiring a few years of social service from each citizen. For a democracy to come into existence it is necessary that ALL members of a society MUST be personally involved in it. If they won't volunteer - and they won't - then it must be initiated as a civic requirement of citizenship; much as a few years of military service is required in some societies.
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